The cars are designed to automatically shift into to park when the driver presses the Stop/Start button to shut off the engine. In some cases, if the driver presses the button two or three times in succession, the system may shift to neutral rather than park.

AverageAmericanGuy:The 8 series is the last truly distinct and unique non-SUV vehicle BMW ever made. Now they all look the same, just varying in size.

Car designer at Renault said they sometimes envied their BMW colleagues. At Renault, they had to bust their ass to make every car in their range distinctive, whereas they make all their came the same, change a few line each year, and everybody gushes at their work.

cleek:The cars are designed to automatically shift into to park when the driver presses the Stop/Start button to shut off the engine. In some cases, if the driver presses the button two or three times in succession, the system may shift to neutral rather than park.

89 Stick-Up KidAverageAmericanGuy: The 8 series is the last truly distinct and unique non-SUV vehicle BMW ever made. Now they all look the same, just varying in size.It's my favorite BMW of all time. I find this headline to be disrespectful.

Its a little sad, I see a driver in a older BMW sedan and I am willing to bet they can actually drive. Now you see someone in a BMW and it is just as likely to be texting or chatting at 5mph below the limit.

The cars are designed to automatically shift into to park when the driver presses the Stop/Start button to shut off the engine. In some cases, if the driver presses the button two or three times in succession, the system may shift to neutral rather than park.

Enemabag Jones:89 Stick-Up KidAverageAmericanGuy: The 8 series is the last truly distinct and unique non-SUV vehicle BMW ever made. Now they all look the same, just varying in size.It's my favorite BMW of all time. I find this headline to be disrespectful.

Its a little sad, I see a driver in a older BMW sedan and I am willing to bet they can actually drive. Now you see someone in a BMW and it is just as likely to be texting or chatting at 5mph below the limit.

The cars are designed to automatically shift into to park when the driver presses the Stop/Start button to shut off the engine. In some cases, if the driver presses the button two or three times in succession, the system may shift to neutral rather than park.

padraig:Car designer at Renault said they sometimes envied their BMW colleagues. At Renault, they had to bust their ass to make every car in their range distinctive, whereas they make all their came the same, change a few line each year, and everybody gushes at their work.

Ahh, the circa 2001 E38 740i Sport was the last awesome 7-series. Nowadays a Lexus LS would be the call for a big sedan.

It would be a tough call to "upgrade" my E39 M5 to one of the new ones, what with the turbos and fake engine noises and so on. Modern Jaguar has been ruined also. Might think about a 2008 XJ or XJR if there were room in the garage...

fdrebin:Ahh, the circa 2001 E38 740i Sport was the last awesome 7-series. Nowadays a Lexus LS would be the call for a big sedan.

It would be a tough call to "upgrade" my E39 M5 to one of the new ones, what with the turbos and fake engine noises and so on. Modern Jaguar has been ruined also. Might think about a 2008 XJ or XJR if there were room in the garage...

fdrebin:Ahh, the circa 2001 E38 740i Sport was the last awesome 7-series. Nowadays a Lexus LS would be the call for a big sedan.

It would be a tough call to "upgrade" my E39 M5 to one of the new ones, what with the turbos and fake engine noises and so on. Modern Jaguar has been ruined also. Might think about a 2008 XJ or XJR if there were room in the garage...

Enemabag Jones:89 Stick-Up KidAverageAmericanGuy: The 8 series is the last truly distinct and unique non-SUV vehicle BMW ever made. Now they all look the same, just varying in size.It's my favorite BMW of all time. I find this headline to be disrespectful.

Its a little sad, I see a driver in a older BMW sedan and I am willing to bet they can actually drive. Now you see someone in a BMW and it is just as likely to be texting or chatting at 5mph below the limit.

The cars are designed to automatically shift into to park when the driver presses the Stop/Start button to shut off the engine. In some cases, if the driver presses the button two or three times in succession, the system may shift to neutral rather than park.

Why is software necessary?

The first time I saw the new M6 in Seattle it was being driven by a little old lady who could barely see over the wheel. I remember saying to myself 'BMW has lost its soul'.

FTFA:The cars are designed to automatically shift into to park when the driver presses the Stop/Start button to shut off the engine. In some cases, if the driver presses the button two or three times in succession, the system may shift to neutral rather than park.

Okay... That's just f*cked up.

Have BMW drivers become so self-important that they can't be bothered to shift the vehicle into Park themselves?

Of course, if they can't be bothered to insert a key into a real ignition switch and turn it to start the car, I guess I've just answered my own question.

Manufacturers think that electronic controls will be cheaper to build than mechanical linkages but the funny thing about that is nobody ever had to calculate the 5-year percentage-of-failure in a steel shift linkage rod. They've gone from something which is cheap to make and has no real-world possibility of failure to something which is slightly cheaper to make, can fail for any (or no) reason, and which will end up costing everyone more in the long run. In engine management complicated is often better than simple (though there's a limit to that). In everything else it's not.

But hey, if I wanted to get worse fuel mileage than a 20-year-old, $180,000 (when new) supercar while at the same time going slower, having more breakdowns, and paying higher maintenance costs I'd certainly buy a new BMW. And even though the BMW costs more to buy today than the old supercar and won't hold its value nearly as well I'll still project the aura of a refined, intelligent consumer... somehow.

/Someone I know just sold the afore-mentioned supercar for the same amount she paid five years ago and bought a 1-year-old BMW for $13k less than it originally sold for. The BMW has a much smaller engine and gets the same mileage. Quite a bit slower, too. But it does have a heated steering wheel.//I called her a moron.

Mr. Ekshun:Manufacturers think that electronic controls will be cheaper to build than mechanical linkages but the funny thing about that is nobody ever had to calculate the 5-year percentage-of-failure in a steel shift linkage rod. They've gone from something which is cheap to make and has no real-world possibility of failure to something which is slightly cheaper to make, can fail for any (or no) reason, and which will end up costing everyone more in the long run. In engine management complicated is often better than simple (though there's a limit to that). In everything else it's not.

I'm inclined to agree with you, but I just remembered my BMW (25 years old, 200K+ miles) has been sitting in the driveway for months waiting for me to fix the broken shift linkage.

The XFR looks like a good bit of fun, but the styling on all the new Jags is too much of a Lexus-Buick-Audi-Aston Martin schmear. The 2008 XJR may not have the same broad appeal, and I wouldn't have it as an only car, but it's got personality.

Fark Me To Tears:FTFA: The cars are designed to automatically shift into to park when the driver presses the Stop/Start button to shut off the engine. In some cases, if the driver presses the button two or three times in succession, the system may shift to neutral rather than park.

Okay... That's just f*cked up.

Have BMW drivers become so self-important that they can't be bothered to shift the vehicle into Park themselves?

Of course, if they can't be bothered to insert a key into a real ignition switch and turn it to start the car, I guess I've just answered my own question.

That's not funny. I totally got embarrassed on a date last night when the valet guy had to track me down and ask me for my key fob.

JesseL:Mr. Ekshun: Manufacturers think that electronic controls will be cheaper to build than mechanical linkages but the funny thing about that is nobody ever had to calculate the 5-year percentage-of-failure in a steel shift linkage rod. They've gone from something which is cheap to make and has no real-world possibility of failure to something which is slightly cheaper to make, can fail for any (or no) reason, and which will end up costing everyone more in the long run. In engine management complicated is often better than simple (though there's a limit to that). In everything else it's not.

I'm inclined to agree with you, but I just remembered my BMW (25 years old, 200K+ miles) has been sitting in the driveway for months waiting for me to fix the broken shift linkage.

Ha! Let me guess, the plastic bushings fell apart or the shift plate hanging off the back of the trans cracked. Of course, both assume a manual transmission, since the ZF auto they were using then likely wouldn't have lasted 200k.

Yeah, I realized that what I wrote had some logical issues, but I was aiming for a point rather than a study. And we'll see how long the electronic whizbangery lasts compared to your 200k-mile E30/E28/E34.